Puppy Tale
by pandorabox82
Summary: A chance encounter with Emily Prentiss leads to a moment of danger for doggy hotel owner Bella Ghan. Written for the challenge in a challenge on CCOAC. Originally for Original Character challenge.


Bella was trying to get Mutters under control when she ran into someone. "Oh, I am so sorry," she said as she looked up into a pair of startled brown eyes. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine. Thanks for asking." There was something about her eyes that told Bella that her answer was far from the truth, but she didn't want to push it with a stranger. "It looks like you've got your hands full with that guy."

As she knelt and held her hand out to the dog, Bella laughed lowly. "Yeah, he misses his humans. They're going to be back tomorrow, but I'm still his caretaker until then."

"Professional boarder?"

"No, I tend to think of myself as a doggy hotelier. Usually I have more dogs, but he's my only guest at the moment." She pulled on the leash, wanting the dog to stop jumping on the other woman. "Well, I should continue on my walk. Have a good day."

"You, too," the woman replied, smiling sadly at her. They parted ways and she thought about the woman the entire way home. There had really been something about her that made Bella want to reach out and hug her tightly.

Sighing, she opened the gate of her dog hotel and went up the walk towards the house. Mutters pulled hard at the leash and she tried to rein him in until she got inside. The minute the door was opened, the dog tore himself free of her hands and took off for who knew where in her house. "That dog is going to be the death of me. I cannot wait until his parents pick him up tonight."

Sighing, she took off her sneakers and whistled for the dog to come. He bounded into the room and she unclipped his leash, setting it over the hook. When she turned around the dog had disappeared once more and she went into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast.

The day passed quickly as she wrote up a freelance article on the recent spike in violence in the city. As she was looking up research for the article, she found a picture of the FBI team that was currently in town, trying to solve the rash of murders. In the background, she noticed the woman from earlier, her head bent and away from the camera, as if she did not want to be recorded. Digging further, she discovered the woman's name – Emily Prentiss.

"Emily. The name doesn't suit her, she doesn't look like she has a rival in this world," she murmured as she continued to write her story. It wasn't long before she sent the article off to her editor and powered down her laptop. Grabbing Mutters' leash off the hook, she whistled for him and took him outside one last time. As they were getting back to the house, she saw his parents waiting in the drive and waved to them.

"Mutters!" the woman cried out, running over to them. "How was he?"

"He was fine, Mrs. Clemenson. Here, let me get his things." They went inside and as Bella gathered up the bowls and toys they'd brought with them and handed them over to the woman. "Thanks again for choosing me and my hotel."

"You came so highly rated, how could we not?" Bella smiled as she stood, never seeing the heavy blow come from behind.

When she woke up, it was dark. Hesitantly, she tried to move her arms, but noticed they felt very heavy. Looking around the room, she began to notice small details, like being tied down to the bed. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark and as she got more familiar with her surroundings, she began to listen to the sounds of the room. Above her, she could hear the Clemenson's arguing and she carefully wriggled her right hand, slowly working it free of her bonds.

There was a great commotion suddenly and she froze, trying to keep from making a sound. A door opened and fearfully, she looked towards the light. "Bella Ghan, are you down here?"

The voice sounded familiar to her. "Emily?" she called out.

"She's down here!" A flurry of feet sounded on the steps and Bella tried not to shrink away as someone shone a flashlight towards here. "Bella?"

"I'm on the bed. I can't move." She saw the woman from yesterday come over to the bed and sit down. She made short work of the ropes around Bella and for that she was grateful. "Thank you." To her utter mortification, she began to sob and Emily's arms closed around her.

She was receiving the hug she had wanted to give and she let her tears flow. "You're safe now, Bella." The woman gently stroked her hair and Bella felt so much younger than her twenty years. "It's okay, we have you."

"I didn't even know that they were who you were looking for."

"We'd had our eye on them from the beginning of our investigation. It was just a matter of time before they slipped up."

"But still, how did you know?"

"The dog is what gave them away. We had found hairs on all the victims, and we knew that it was from a dog, thanks to our crime labs. Are you strong enough to stand?"

"I think so." Emily helped her to stand up and she wobbled on her feet. "Guess I'm not as steady as I thought. They hit me on the head with something."

"Then we should get you to the hospital, Bella. Head trauma is nothing to mess around with." Gently, Emily led her upstairs, letting her take a break halfway up. "Morgan, is the ambulance here yet?" she called up the stairs.

"It just pulled in a minute ago, Em." The man appeared at the top of the stairs and Bella unconsciously drew back into Emily.

"It's okay, Bella. He's with us." The hand rubbing up and down her arm was so warm and Bella started crying once more. Emily hugged her again once they were up on the main floor of the house.

"What will happen to their dog?" she said as Mutters ran up to her, his tail wagging. She petted him absently, struggling to keep control of her emotions.

"Most likely he'll have to go to the pound," the man Emily had called Morgan said.

"Could I take him home with me? I was looking after him before."

"Oh, that's right, you were. Derek, if the paramedics release her, I'm going to run her by her home with the dog. It's obvious he knows her and likes her." The man smiled and nodded and Bella felt herself relax once more.

Going outside, she was led over to the ambulance, where two very nice paramedics checked her out, giving her a clean bill of health. Emily stayed by her side the entire time, and when it was over, she led her over to a black SUV, helping her into the back with Mutters. "Looks like it's going to be you and me, Mutters. Somehow, we'll get through this together."

Looking up in the rearview mirror, she saw Emily smile sadly before pulling out into traffic, asking her for directions to her home. Bella took hold of Mutters collar and led him inside, watching Emily leave from her front door.

She wasn't surprised when, two months later, Emily showed up on her front porch. "I just had to see Mutters one more time before I leave for London."

"We're doing better, Emily. And how about you?"

"Getting stronger every day." Bella could see in her eyes that she was telling the truth, the sorrow was leaving them. "Well, I should go…"

"You're here already, come in for a cup of tea."

"Thanks." Emily came in the door and Bella closed it behind them, eager to start a new chapter of her life.


End file.
